Fat is an adjective, not an attack.

Fat is just an adjective.

That’s it. It’s a word that describes, subjectively, a physical characteristic. Like big, or thick, or curvy, or beautiful.

It’s not an insult. It’s not definitive. It’s not an argument.

Yet so many people take it that way. To many readers, “fat” is a declaration of war.

When I wrote about Joan from Mad Men, people immediately criticized me, a size-14 woman who identifies as fat, for calling a size-14 woman fat. When Tasha Fierce described the lovely Sara Ramirez as fat, people immediately attacked her for her word choice. Fat is a word that gets people going; those three letters contain all of the sizism and prejudice that kyriarchy force-feeds women. Fat seems to erase any positive description – even if it’s paired with beautiful or sexy, many readers will ignore it and focus on fat. If these readers don’t see the noun attached to this particular adjective as disgusting or unattractive, it’s wrong, and a personal affront.

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